Snow-Dusted
by G.A. AnimeFan4
Summary: It's the last time all of them will be together. [Hitsugaya, Karin, Grandma Haru, Yosuke]


_A/N: This takes place a few years after the Bleach manga/anime. If you've seen episode 316 (filler) then you'll understand this fic:) The characters used are Hitsugaya, Karin, Haru _Obaa-chan_, and Yosuke (the little boy who Haru took care of before he went Hollow, the one who wanted to see snow). So yeah, this is an angsty one-shot, have fun reading my depressing crap._

_There IS some HitsuKarin in this. I was having feels of nostalgia after watching the Hitsugaya x Karin episodes so I wrote this sad stuff._

_...Sorry in advanced for this story. I've been debating for a week whether or not to post this, then decided on "What the frig?"_

**_I don't own Bleach._**

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They were a normal family in a normal afterlife in a normal home with a normal schedule.

And that's what they really loved about it.

The normality.

But every once in a great while, their day will change slightly, because someone is knocking at their door oh so non-suspiciously and casually. The father of the household answers with a nod of his head, mouth curled slightly in a light smile. The mother offers tea, to which their visitor declines - doesn't even enter their home, just leans against the gaping doorway with his arms folded and his weight shifted to one hip. He asks if they are busy and they reply with a no.

This event has happened twice. The first had been a surprise, and they'd almost been unwilling to go along with this stranger and then their little boy assured them that all was well and he explained. The second occurrence, the parents were ready to surrender their child to this _shinigami_ for a few hours. After all, their kid was so joyful when he returned for supper the last time.

Their guest steps outside, hardly speaking and his lips formed in a tight line. His black robes and _haori_ that he should be wearing are replaced with dark pants, a modern shirt, and a long cloak with a hood. As soon as he is back in view of others, he pulls this hood over his head, covering white hair and shading teal eyes. The boy leaps to his side, waving to his mother and father and promising to be careful as he puts on a hat to shield his own identity.

And then the prodigy squad leader and his young companion take their leave, strolling down the streets of Soul Society, and the married couple knows both will return safely, unnoticed by authorities, with new stories to tell.

Hitsugaya Toushirou promises this both times in a voice that seals his words.

.

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_Soutaichou _never hears of the Third Division's Captain abandoning the hereafter and slipping through the gate and entering the Real World.

Matsumoto doesn't either.

But she has an idea when her higher-up comes home with a tired look in his gaze and an empty hole in his heart that would put a Hollow's to shame.

.

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After they dip into the living side of this _Sekkai_, Hitsugaya removes the heavy cloth from his line of vision, letting it drape down his back again. Yosuke laughs nervously, shyly, unsure as soon as his feet touch the grass that his spiritual anatomy cannot feel.

"You told me once," the older of the two starts slowly, softly, "that you wanted to visit her before her time came. Just in case you do not meet in the District." His tone is reserved, sad, more to himself than to the boy.

Yosuke nods a little. "Yes."

Hitsugaya's eyelids lower a bit, like he's exhausted, as if the decades - _centuries_ - he'd survived have finally caught up to his teenage body. He dips his chin knowingly, moving to head up the road filled with people walking home from work in the evening air. His acquaintance follows a few feet behind, both making their way straight through these breathing individuals with hearts that still beat and eyes that don't see what they see.

.

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She's already there and for a moment, Hitsugaya feels himself hesitate.

But that sensation flees from his muscles when she catches his eye and smiles gently, eyebrows knitted sorrowfully.

Her hair has gotten a little longer, still pulled into a ponytail, though now it is positioned lower so it rubs against the back of her neck. There was a time when he could have reached out, patted the glossy strands, smelled her scent while pressing his nose against her forehead. But that was a long time ago (not to his standards, but for her) and he removes the thought from his mind instantly.

Kurosaki Karin, now in college and surpassing him in height once again, waves her hand for them to pursue.

The young woman stops silently, clasping her hands in her lap, stare cast toward the tiled floor. Now a new emotions knots in Hitsugaya's chest, one of anger, irritation, disapproval at this poor excuse for scenery.

It's a place for the elderly who can no longer live on their own. And it's gross.

Haru _Obaa-chan_ would have wanted her last days outside, where she could watch the snow and the wind in the tree branches and the faces of unknown pedestrians meandering by. She would have wanted to be _home_. Not a pent up room with one, measly window and walls of stark white and a single bed with bleached, dry sheets.

But she isn't complaining.

No, the old lady sits in her wheelchair, back turned to them. When Hitsugaya goes to her, she glances wearily up at him, her wrinkled skin spreading into a wide grin at his presence. His appearance must be fuzzy because he can feel her _reistu_ fading gradually.

Karin said during their last drop-by that she'd visited Haru every weekend to keep her company, and he believed it. He was grateful, glad she would do that, and he wanted to thank her, but now was not the time, and it never would be. The girl he'd once dared to fall in love with joins them today, knowing they were coming, allowing herself to be with them all one last time. After this, Hitsugaya will not see her again until he happens to someday stumble across her in _Rukongai_.

The same goes for Grandma Haru.

Only he will meet her again much sooner.

It's still disheartening, though. Meeting another in Soul Society is not guaranteed, almost impossible actually, unless you are close family and die at the same moment. It's unlikely the four of them will ever be in the same room in the future, and that makes Hitsugaya sick to his stomach.

But instead of voicing his worries aloud, he offers a smile to Haru and leans down to kiss her on the cheek. Crowfeet-lined eyes squint with contentment as she whispers a hoarse, "_Arigatou_."

He's barely aged two months outwardly while they have grown so, so much.

Yosuke, in a corner by himself until now, finally rushes forward, ghostly arms wrapping around the frail woman. Tears prick his shut lids and Haru strokes his feathery hair with a bony hand. She's weakening, all of them can sense it, and Karin leaves the room. Hitsugaya watches her go, unable to call her back.

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He doesn't have to.

Karin shows again minutes later, grabbing a hold of the handles to Haru's wheelchair after draping a wool blanket over her lap. The _shinigami_ says nothing; just lets himself go after them, his legs moving on their own. Yosuke grasps the old woman's hand as they exit the building, and this person who is practically his grandmother rubs comforting circles in his palm with her thumb.

Karin ceases the movement of the chair below spiderweb mimicking branches of a tall tree in the front yard of the elderly house. The sky is blanketed in a monotone grey and the city is left in a mourning atmosphere. Snowflakes drift down from the heavens, one landing on Hitsugaya's nose. He smirks sourly.

"Thank you," he manages faintly when Karin stands beside him, giving Haru and Yosuke their space.

She shrugs, expression melancholy but peaceful. "She wants it that way, neh?"

Neither of them mention the time when they had first gone to Haru's, just the two of them, eating candied beans on the porch. Or all of the games of soccer they had played together. Not the night they had made out or the morning they had their food fight in the Kurosaki kitchen, boys against girls with the table propped up as a No Man's Land; Isshin had probably had the most fun. They do not speak of the day they'd broken off their relationship because Karin was getting older while he stayed the same. Nor of when she'd caught sight of him attending her High School Graduation and hadn't met him again until he smuggled Yosuke into Karakura to see Haru.

In fact, after those two sentences, they do not utter a sound to one another.

Hitsugaya squeezes Haru's shoulder one last time as her breathing becomes less frequent and he kisses her cheek once more. Karin bids her good luck and orders her to make new friends in Soul Society that she can meet one day. Haru chuckles - it's barely audible and Hitsugaya grits his teeth.

They stay there, all together like the messed up family they are. The old woman and her grandsons, the two spirits from the other side, the two females who met through one person, the once lovers who were separated by a cruel fate. But they're all together for this moment, and it's nice despite the ache and the shattering remorse. Karin brushes her hand down Hitsugaya's back, and he takes a moment to savor the feeling of her physical contact, and then it is gone.

The four of them smile, some genuinely, some bitterly, as the snowfall continues at a steady pace, and Yosuke embraces Haru as if making up for lost time (be it past or forthcoming).

.

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It's been a while since this dark cloak was laid over his frame, hiding him from prying peers. He tugs the hood over his head and straps _Hyourinmaru_ on his back, also disguising it. He closes his office door and prays to any greater force in this universe that Matsumoto will do some damned paperwork in his absence.

He finds himself in the Rukon District, wandering aimlessly. It's a habit, he decides, it clears his mind, lets it roam. He does it a lot, just walks about this inhabited area where he'd once lived years and years and _years_ ago. Incoherent muttering of the dragon in his sword echoes in his brain and he ignores the persona within steel.

He first passes by a normal house with a normal family in a normal afterlife in a normal home with a normal schedule. He hides his face from the adult boy peeking through the window, having matured over the endless months. Then Yosuke ducks back inside, gone from his view.

Another hour later, and this identity-hidden man finds himself a few miles away. He lifts his gaze to see an old woman buying a bag of tea from the market. He smiles and strides past her. She's so small compared to him now, his body has caught up to his mind, he is what one would call fully grown in the Real World. So Haru wouldn't have recognized him anyway, never has, never will, no matter the amount of times he comes to check up on her.

And then he realizes that he has no where else to go but _Sereitei_.

A few blocks later, he halts. His bones are suddenly cold, like the ice he creates nearly every day, and his limbs become stiff. He's tired suddenly. He frowns deeply down at the cement ground, face devoid, hardly noticing the snow that dusts the fabric of his cloak.

He freezes as a hand touches his back tentatively, and he twists on his heel to meet a pair of gray eyes that blink back, surprised. She asks him, "Are you alright? You weren't moving and I was wondering..."

He feels his lips part ever so slightly - she looks to be in her late twenties, 'like him', and is as beautiful as she always had been - and he closes them. He nods once, maneuvering around her to escape when she clutches his wrist.

She looks extremely embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry! I don't know what I'm doing, I just sorta grabbed you and- oh geez..."

When she looks to see if he's mad, she's puzzled to find him simpering from behind the shadow of his hood.

He lifts his arm and cups her cheek and she furrows her eyebrows. He sighs and pulls away, telling her in a muffled pitch, "It's good to see you again."

Karin says nothing at first - then memory must register because she lets out a muted gasp and tears off that hood, pushing him against the wall to the nearest structure. He scowls back, shoving the sentiment from his visible features, and allows her to hit his chest a few times. He's taller than her permanently, finally, his hair styled just a little differently to fit his older display. She hugs him, trying not to cry, and he chokes on his own words, so he doesn't murmur anything comforting.

He presses his nose into her black hair, breathing in her scent and letting his drained self relax in her arms. Karin buries her face in his clothes, suddenly asking a million questions, and he laughs.

They stand together under the falling snow, the hole in his heart beginning to mend itself, the cavern in hers disappearing.

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_~Finish~_


End file.
